I swear, every volume of this series ends with a promise that the next volume is going to explain what's going on, and every next volume jumps to a coI swear, every volume of this series ends with a promise that the next volume is going to explain what's going on, and every next volume jumps to a completely different storyline. ...more
The second volume in the series is worse than the first, which perversely makes for a better read. Here Satou's Randian worldview comes into full viewThe second volume in the series is worse than the first, which perversely makes for a better read. Here Satou's Randian worldview comes into full view, and it is gloriously awful. In particular I love the moment when the hero explains that people who complain about being treated unfairly are jerks for wanting to take resources away from their betters.
Now I can't wait for the volume that got the series banned in China....more
There are times when I feel this series is going somewhere, and times when I feel as though the author is just screwing with readers. This is thankfulThere are times when I feel this series is going somewhere, and times when I feel as though the author is just screwing with readers. This is thankfully the former. We actually learn stuff about the world for a change and get some idea of what's going on, but unfortunately there's not much in the way of plot beyond that....more
A compilation of two novellas originally published as bonus material for the Japanese Blu-Ray editions of the anime. Despite that, the stories are surA compilation of two novellas originally published as bonus material for the Japanese Blu-Ray editions of the anime. Despite that, the stories are surprisingly high quality, focusing heavily on characterization over plot and action.
The first recounts a vision Mikasa has after she's knocked unconscious during the Battle of Trost, showing her an alternate world where her parents never died and the Titans never breached the wall. Given how taciturn Mikasa is, seeing the world from her perspective (even if it's only semi-canonical and an AU version of her to boot) is a nice treat.
The second story is, of all things, a hardboiled mystery involving Annie during her tenure as an MP in Stohess District. If it weren't for continuity references, this would make a reasonably good standalone mystery -- missing rich girl, shady bars, shifty hoodlums, a new drug on the market. I never thought I'd see Dashiell Hammett in the Titanverse, but that's exactly what this is. Nobody even gets eaten!...more
Most of the light novels published in English over the last year or two have been variations on the trapped in a game/trappeWell ... that's different.
Most of the light novels published in English over the last year or two have been variations on the trapped in a game/trapped in an alternate universe genre, with a handful of overpowered teenage boy fighting monsters/aliens with the help of a bevvy of hot female companions. Only Kagerou Daze and Ryohgo Narita's novels have really bucked the trend. The slice of life school comedies and batshit insane LNs have by and large not been making it over here much of late.
Thankfully Psycome (short for Psycho Love Comedy) is a little of both. The set-up isn't entirely original--it's basically Deadman Wonderland with a bit of Assassination Classroom thrown in. Our protagonist is a teenage boy who has a history of beating the crap out of gangbangers who dare to mess with his neighborhood. When one group of said gangbangers turns up dead, he's the obvious suspect and is sent to prison.
Now the Japanese justice system has had some problems dealing with juvenile murderers, preferring to give them lighter sentences and hope they can be rehabilitated no matter how egregioustheircrimes. This is, unsurprisingly, controversial in some circles, and has been a popular subject for Japanese fiction, like Kanae Minato's Confessions about a school teacher who decides to take personal revenge on the students who killed her daughter rather than turn them over to the police.
With that in mind, the initial premise of the book isn't totally outrageous -- the Japanese government has opened a special prison school where all the juvenile murderer in Japan, including our hero, are put. There probably aren't enough juvenile murderers in Japan to justify such an institution (such murders are big news when they occur, which makes them seem more common than they are), but it's something you can suspend disbelief for.
But of course this is a light novel, so realism isn't in strong supply beyond that. The teacher/guards deal out corporal punishment at ridiculous levels. The main teacher carries a truncheon which she uses to beat the crap out of one recalcitrant lad to the point that he should be in hospital for months after the first smackdown, assuming he even survived. But instead he keeps coming back like a Looney Tunes character to provoke her again and again.
And of course the inmates include a surprising number of hot girls who gravitate to the main character (he allegedly killed twelve people, making him the coolest kid in school -- which also suggests that the idea behind the school is less than well thought out). There's the obligatory tsundere, of course, and the dojikko (she kills people by falling down and accidentally performing martial arts moves) and, given the setting, even a yandere. There are male characters, but they're inevitably villains who worship Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy, while the girls all turn out to be on the guy's side (more or less).
There's plenty to milk from a crazy idea like this, but of course you need a plot to hang it on, so there's a twist in the last part of the book which enable this to be part one of a longer series rather than a one-off novel. It's a little disappointing how generic it is, but by that point you're just going to be reading for the ridiculous violence, so anything that allows that to continue will be welcome....more
The Yellow Scarves arc was one of the draggier bits of the anime, so it's a relief to discover that the original novel version is much tighter and tenThe Yellow Scarves arc was one of the draggier bits of the anime, so it's a relief to discover that the original novel version is much tighter and tenser. Which is weird because the novel doesn't have any of the subplots where we see individual Dollars getting hunted, or when Horoda's goons chase after Anri. Instead the book is tightly focused on Kida and his backstory. He screwed up two years ago, and no matter how lighthearted and flippant he acts nowadays, he's still haunted by that past. The stakes here aren't a gang war and the destruction of the Dollars (though that's certainly present), but Kida's very soul, and that makes for a better story. Narita really gets into Kida's head as things spiral out of control and he has to decide whether to run away or make a stand that could cost him dear....more
The first entry in Mori's S&M (view spoiler)[Get your mind out of the gutter -- S and M are the initials of the main characters, Souhei and Moe (hide The first entry in Mori's S&M (view spoiler)[Get your mind out of the gutter -- S and M are the initials of the main characters, Souhei and Moe (hide spoiler)] mystery series (view spoiler)[The series that the anime The Perfect Insider is based upon (hide spoiler)] to get an English release is a short side story. The plot is minimal -- Moe throws a dinner party and asks Souhei to talk about something interesting. He offers an architectural mystery about an Indian pagoda carved out of the Earth, but with its finial carved into the ground next to it instead of from the roof where it belongs. The other guests offer theories; Souhei tears each one apart before revealing the truth.
So basically this is a story about being stuck at a party with one of those annoying guys who tell long and drawn out stories that never come to a point.
The translations from BBB are slowly getting better, but they're still stiff and contain too many signs the translator doesn't speak English as a first language, such as pluralizing collective nouns ("architectures"). I applaud their efforts in bringing more J-lit across the Pacific, and I know they can't be making much money off this, but they really need to hire a copy editor....more
The original SAO is such a frustrating series. The premise is golden: 10,000 people trapped inside a virtual reality MMORPG with no way out but to defThe original SAO is such a frustrating series. The premise is golden: 10,000 people trapped inside a virtual reality MMORPG with no way out but to defeat the game's final boss -- but if their character dies along the way, their brain gets fried in real life as well. The initial set of characters kick ass -- Klein the elite guildmaster who leads his men through countless battles without any casualties, Agil the trader who keeps the front lines supplied with the best weapons, and Asuna an amazing female warrior who inspires loyalty in all who follow her.
The first problem with the series was that none of those guys were the hero. Instead we were given Kirito, who, despite the author's attempts to make him a dark and brooding character with a troubled pass, was overpowered almost to the point of being a Mary Sue. Worse still, as the story wore on all the cool characters fell by the wayside. Klein pretty much disappeared after the first book, Agil after the fourth, and though Asuna stuck around she was depowered and turned into a damsel in distress (complete with threats of rape, both by a skeevy villain and a VR tentacle monster). In their place, Kirito was introduced to a series of other female characters (even when we're flat out told the game is like 90% dudes) all of whom fall in love with him, which, combined with his ever increasing skillset, pushed him over into the realm of pure Mary Sue.
But even that wasn't the worst part of the series. No, the worst part was that the series abandoned it's premise after the second book. The first volume was written for a literary contest which required the story to stand on it's own, so the author skipped straight from the set-up to the climax. He hinted at all sorts of cool adventures that took place in the intervening period, but they didn't appear in the first volume. The second book was a bunch of short stories that filled in some of the gaps (though not all -- we've still never had a proper account of the Laughing Coffin Crusade), but then the story moves on with Kirito entering other VR games. But with the threat of death removed, the story lost everything that made the first book interesting. The writer came up with new threats to make up for this, but none of them ever equaled the initial concept.
Which brings us to Progressive, the author's attempt to reboot SAO and retell the story of the original death game from beginning to end. (Well, almost. He skips straight to the end of the first level, so if you want to understand the setup, you still need to read the first book. Or at least watch the first episode of the anime.)
Does he succeed?
In parts. The tension's definitely back. There are hints of things to come, including what looks like a hint about the origin of The Laughing Coffins, a secret society that murders other players later in the series. And instead of the frontline players being a unified front, there are fractious relations between various cliques which threaten to destabilize everything. (There are also a lot fewer frontliners since most players are still working to level-up to a point where they have a chance of surviving.)
But Kirito's over-poweredness is still present, and the author never acknowledges that some of the people who don't like him have good reason. His attitude, while it makes some sense in context, is pretty assholish. Klein is one of the players still leveling up, so he only gets a couple passing mentions, and Agil's presence is little more than a cameo, though he does demonstrate bits of awesomeness. We do get a few new characters who look like they're going to be long runners, and although Argo the Rat flirts with becoming a founding member of Kirito's harem, she manages to remain an independent female character.
And then there's Asuna. Because this is a reboot her character isn't yet a fantastic warrior queen. In fact, at the start of the story she's a newb who needs basic game concepts explained to her. She's not weak, though, and proves herself capable of fighting on the frontlines through her sheer willpower, and there are already hints of her eventual development. Frustratingly, though the author's turned her into a tsundere. Thankfully she's the kind who's mostly nice and only occasionally goes into tsun-tsun mode, but those occasions are still too many, especially when it's presented as, "Oh, she's mad at Kirito! Isn't that endearing?"
The translation of this volume is a big step up from the original SAO's first volume. I recently came across an interview with the translator where he says he started out in manga, which is of course 90% dialogue and internal monologue, so when he moved to prose fiction he faced a learning curve with descriptive passage. He's also the translator on Durarara!!, and the first volume of that also had a nice, smooth translation....more
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